Bush Accomplishes His Debate Goal

By RON FOURNIER AP Political Writer

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) -- In his first debate, George W. Bush accomplished his No. 1 goal: He survived.

No gaffes. No wounds. No doubt he's still the GOP presidential front-runner.

He may not have been the star of the debate, but he was a target, and as such had to avoid traps laid by his fellow candidates.

``He showed he was in command, he looked solid and he didn't get rattled. He didn't fall apart,'' said GOP consultant David Carney, conceding that was an unusually low standard for a presidential candidate.

Led by millionaire conservative Steve Forbes, four of Bush's five opponents challenged him on abortion, taxes and Social Security. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch complained that his campaign Internet site was too complicated. Even one of the moderators, familiar with questions about Bush's intellect, asked, ``What do you read every day?''

Only Arizona Sen. John McCain held his fire, and he might have been the most appealing debater -- armed with a string of funny one-liners and a solid command of most issues.

McCain, who is running a close second here in polls to Bush, said he would reappoint Alan Greenspan to the Federal Reserve. If Greenspan died before McCain took office, the senator said he would ``prop him up and put on a pair of glasses'' and keep him on the Fed.

Pressed about his famous temper, McCain joked, ``You know, comments like that really make me mad.''

Less than a minute into the debate, conservative activist Gary Bauer challenged Bush to clarify his position on abortion. Forbes questioned why Bush missed the first three debates. ``I'm glad everyone is here, including Governor Bush, who is no longer AWOL,'' he said.

He reminded the audience that Bush said he would consider raising the retirement age as part of a long-term fix to the Social Security system. ``That's not fair,'' Forbes said.

Like all of the criticisms leveled against Bush, this one was telegraphed in advance of the debate, giving the governor's campaign time to prepare. Forbes had made the same charge in a television ad.

Bush pulled out a 1977 article written by Forbes, calling for a ``gradual raise'' in the retirement age. ``The author of that: Steve Forbes,'' Bush said dramatically.

In addition to opposition research, Bush was primed to repeat, as often as possible, that he is governor of the nation's second largest state and the only candidate with executive office experience.

``I know how to lead,'' he said early in the debate.

``I am a leader,'' he said halfway through.

``I'd be a good foreign policy leader,'' he said at the end.

He seemed a bit flustered at one point when asked about his reading habits. ``I read the newspaper,'' he said. Perhaps realizing the noun shouldn't be so singular, Bush listed several papers he reads every day, and mentioned a book about Dean Acheson.

That's about as tough as it got.

``Everyone did very well and everyone got their points across,'' said Carney, who is not allied with any of the candidates.

Forbes got a boost before the debate, getting word that the influential New Hampshire newspaper, The Union Leader, had endorsed him. But he runs the risk of appearing too negative, reminding voters of his attack campaign in 1996.

``He's got it tough because he's got to get traction against Bush, but how does he do that without looking like the Darth Vader of politics?'' said Dean Spiliotes, professor of government at Dartmouth University.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Ron Fournier is chief political writer for The Associated Press.

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